1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to methods of manufacturing tube coupling bodies and is particularly, although not exclusively, applicable to methods of manufacturing tube coupling bodies for couplings of the type described and illustrated in our UK Patent Specification No. 1520742. The latter specification describes and illustrates a tube coupling comprising a body having a throughway open at one end of the body with a frusto conical cam surface in the throughway tapering towards said open end of the throughway, a collet located in the open end of the throughway having resilient fingers extending into the throughway to grip and engage a tube inserted through the collet into the body, the arrangement being such that movement of the tube in a direction outwardly of the throughway causes the arms of the collet to be forced into engagement with the tube by the tapered cam surface to grip and hold the tube in the coupling body.
2. Background prior art
EP-A-0132319 discloses a method of manufacturing a coupling body for such a tube coupling in moulded plastics in which the coupling body is moulded in one operation without the tapered cam surface and the cam surface is moulded in plastics in a separate annular insert to be located in the open end of the coupling body. The insert is subsequently joined to the coupling body by ultrasonic welding to form a cohesive unit with the body.
The object of the present invention is to simplify the manufacture of the coupling body.